There were many things on my mind as I made my way back to the sect. The tribulation, Silver Fang and the Verdant Pills. Not to mention the reality about my existence in Lu Jie’s body. The fact that Lu Jie was still alive, or at least, present within my soul. And lastly, The First Law of Cultivation, that I’d briefly glimpsed at.
I would need to spend a lot of time analysing just what it truly meant, for both me, my future, and about the reality of the world I was in. But for the moment, I let all these thoughts fade to the back of my mind for later inspection as we entered the sect.
We were allowed easy passage within, not held back for more than a cursory glance. Not surprisingly, no one had suspected three outer sect disciples of summoning tribulation clouds, allowing for easy passage.
I took my leave from Yan Yun and Liuxiang, with a promise to meet at a later point to prepare for the tournament. Something even Liuxiang had expressed an interest in.
I walked within my chamber, finding Nyan sleeping on my desk, curled up over my notes.
“Labby’s herbs!” Labby exclaimed as she left my dantian, running out as she headed towards the spirit herb garden, running amongst the spirit herbs. I almost saw her take a bite when she froze and turned towards me.
“Can… Labby have the herbs Great Master?” she asked.
I stared at Labby in surprise, before smiling.
“As many as you’d like Labby,” I said, as my heart swelled. My little baby rat was slowly starting to grow up and learn restraint!
“Squeak!” Labby happily exclaimed, jumping into the herbs. I saw Nyan yawn, eyeing Labby for a moment, but the ginger cat seemed to have had his fill already.
“Chirp!” Sheldon exclaimed from inside my pouch.
“What is it Sheldon?” I asked, picking the turtle up. Sheldon chirped again, bumping his head against my hand and bit my finger lightly. That was odd, did he want something?
“Chirp!” Sheldon exclaimed once more, wiggling his feet as if to free himself from my hands. Yet not enough to jump down and hit himself. Not that it’d hurt him, I’d believe this whole chamber would be destroyed first before it could hurt Sheldon.
Gently, I set the turtle down. Sheldon dashed ahead, up to the spirit herb garden and turned to look at me with another chirp.
“You want me to… sit down?” I asked, receiving another chirp.
I closed the door behind me before taking a seat in front of Sheldon on the floor. The turtle chirped once more, as I saw the golden circles on his back light up.
“Chirp!”
This time, I didn’t need to think too hard before I realised what Sheldon wanted.
“You want me to follow you? In cultivation?” I asked, as Sheldon looked at me, his mouth curved up in a smile as always. Curious, I sat down and focused on my Qi core, circulating my Qi.
A rumbling voice that shook my core echoed in my mind, breaking my concentration.
“Wrong. Incomplete. Unfinished.”
My eyes shot open. What… was that voice?
I looked at Sheldon who stared at me with a serious expression, as another thought was relayed to me.
“Bond. Link. Companions.”
I stared at Sheldon, at the concepts he tried to share with me. It felt like trying to squeeze a massive book right into my brain. Each word he spoke, heavy with the weight of Qi, and my cores strained at the voice, unable to bear them.
“You want me to… form a bond? Are you sure? It’s… a pretty big decision, and you’re a lot stronger than me. I didn’t want to tie you down with me if you one day wanted to leave,” I said looking at Sheldon.
“Strong enough. Now. Comprehend. Cycle. Together.”
I stared at Sheldon, at the dual spins etched in the colour of gold on his green-ish brown brown shell. I could recognise the flow anywhere. It was my cycle, the dual cycle of Qi and Gu.
“Chirp!”
I looked at the little guy as a smile covered my face. I took out the jade slip that contained the art the Elder had provided me for bonding with Sheldon. Setting it on my palm, I took a meditative pose.
Two cores came to the fore front within my dantian.
They spun, like twin stars circling each other in peace. A balance formed of two halves.
Sheldon’s Qi erupted around me, a tidal wave washing all out. Two whirlpools circled around one another, a large tidal force. I could sense Sheldon restricting his presence to the inside of the chamber, and I was thankful for it. Anyone who’d sense this in the outer sect would come rushing.
I followed suit with the flow of the turtle’s Qi, matching my own.
In a few moments, our cores hummed together. I sensed the remnants of Gu in Sheldon, within his second cycle. It was weaker, far weaker than the boiling and hissing miasma present in my core, yet it too was a cycle.
Together, we sent our Qi into the jade slip.
The bonding art pulsated, Qi flaring, as my Qi began to intermingle with Sheldon's. A torrent of water Qi rushed towards me. I gasped, feeling the water Qi sweeping me away and drowning my spirit, the force of the flow enough to crush me.
The art flared, as the water flow narrowed itself, the tidal rush slowing down. I felt Sheldon’s Qi slow down, turning from a storm into a gentle pool of water that swirled gently all around me.
In a slow trickle, the Qi headed within my dantian, filling my Qi core. A bond snapped into place, as my senses expanded to Sheldon’s Qi.
It was an ocean, deep enough to consume me whole. Wide enough that I could swim within it for years and never see the end. It was an entire world upon itself, tied by a thin thread to the twin cores within my dantian. Like a mountain hinged upon two glass orbs.
My spirit touched Sheldon’s and I marvelled at the little turtle, finally able to sense the strength of the magnificent creature I had brought with me.
Three circles shimmered in Sheldon's core, forming the foundation of his dantian, as a bright and pure core shone within them, brimming with Qi on the inside.
This was the Seventh realm. The realm of Elders, and of where the path towards true immortality began.
I felt Sheldon’s Qi sweep me, gently guiding me towards him, and I let the waters carry me along. My spirit floated, stretching in a now familiar sensation as I felt something snap and opened my eyes once more.
“Back here again huh?” I said, looking around. I sat on a small island, surrounded by a vast lake filled with little creatures of all kinds, beyond which was the endless white expanse stretching on to infinity. Sheldon’s inner world.
A little turtle swam through the same lake, climbing up on the rocky island as he bumped his head on my leg.
“Well, I guess we have a bond now Sheldon. So this should be easier to do. But… Why have you brought me here?”
“I assume it was me,” a voice spoke and I jumped, and spun around.
Lu Jie stood behind me, dark black hair flowing behind his back as he wore the same outer sect robes I did, yet the little furrow of his brows and the way he stood gave him the edge I associated with cultivators. It felt strange to see my face like that, even if I knew that wasn’t me. Not completely me anyway.
“Oh, umm. Hi. Never knew we could meet again so easily,” I said, looking at Lu Jie, who stared back at me silently. Not much of a talker I guess.
“I wasn’t aware either. It isn’t often that an Elder spirit graces disciples like me. Well, I guess it isn’t too out of the norm with every ridiculous thing you’ve been doing,” Lu Jie said and I frowned.
“Hey, I’ve been perfectly content to just stick to myself and do alchemy. It was only when you came around that I went all heaven defying and everything,” I said, as Lu Jie turned to look at me.
“Have you truly? You have raised a spirit rat and set her upon the path of the moon. A spirit everyone thought useless, incapable of cultivating. You have befriended yourself to one of the Yi, one of the most withdrawn and solitary clans among the great clans. You have the prodigious young beauty of the sect coming to you for help, and you gave back life to a crippled boy, shaking the heavens and summoning a tribulation. Do you truly think you’ve been content to simply do alchemy Lu Jie?”
I stared silently, unable to come up with a retort.
“Chirp!” Sheldon squeaked, drawing our eyes as the little turtle turned around and jumped into the water.
I turned to look at Lu Jie, who glanced back at me with an apprehensive look and a grin formed on my face. With a light dash and a flare of my Qi I leapt into the water behind my little turtle.
Qi flowed around me pushing against my feet as I easily propelled myself through the water, almost like a torpedo. I swam, as Sheldon squeaked, water swirling all around as the little guy zipped around at high speeds.
My eyes drifted, noticing the many fish and plants and little life forms everywhere that constituted Sheldon’s inner world. I stared in wonder as a school of fish swam past me in a rush, almost indistinguishable from the real thing, even if I knew it was just a creation of Sheldon.
I swam up to the top of the lake, shaking off the water, and vaporising the remaining bits with the Qi around me, as I carefully balanced myself on the surface of the water. Being here was freaky, but in the coolest way ever.
“Are you not going to come in?” I asked, looking at Lu Jie who continued to sit silently near the shore.
“The elder spirit wishes for you doesn’t he? I’m just the bystander here,” Lu Jie said, and I frowned. The boy looked at me with a thoughtful expression, and I felt a tug at my chest, the familiar weight of living under all the failures in your life.
With a splash, Sheldon jumped out of the water, reaching the shore. The little guy squeaked, grabbing Lu Jie’s finger in his mouth as he pulled.
“I guess you’re invited too,” I said with a smile, as Lu Jie looked at me with an odd expression before slowly walking ahead.
I let go of the Qi propulsion at my feet, sinking back into the water as Sheldon swam within the lake. Lu Jie swam behind, reaching up to me as Sheldon’s eyes gleamed, the twin swirls on his back glowing.
“Cycle. Show. Follow.”
The voice reverberated through the world, and I looked at Lu Jie, nodding as the two of us followed Sheldon.
A stream of water generated by Sheldon propelled us ahead, as we swam behind the turtle heading deeper into the lake. The many fish slowly started to decrease in numbers the deeper we swam. My eyes drifted across the world hidden underwater and I truly began to appreciate the size of Sheldon’s inner world.
The outer lake was just an entrance. The true world lay beneath the surface of the water, a complex system of life thriving, mingling with the Qi as they all contributed to the cycle.
I pulled back as a particularly large fish swam right in front of my face, snapping at the smaller ones, and swallowing them whole.
I saw Sheldon come to a halt, and paused, looking around. In all directions I could see, I was surrounded by a mystical world within the water. A world in its own right. One I couldn’t wait to explore and understand.
“Incomplete. Recovering. Small. Form.”
The words played in my mind as I look at Sheldon. I almost opened my mouth to speak before realising I was surrounded by water all around me. Using my Qi, and our newly formed bond, i sent instead.
“The cycle… is incomplete? Or well, recovering? That’s why you use this small form?”
“Chirp!”
I nodded in understanding, as I looked around, my fascination growing. If this vast world was still incomplete, and Sheldon was still recovering from his injuries… then I wondered just what a world of a true 7th realm creature would be like.
My heart fluttered in excitement. The desire to grow.
“Cycle. Had. Life.” Sheldon said, as the Qi carried his words directly to my mind. Something guided me to have another look around, and I began to take note of the dead remains, of the dying plants, of the many predators preying on other creatures.
“But. Now. Death. Too.”
I felt something resonating in my chest, the Qi stirring in my core.
“Together. Complete.” Sheldon said, as I felt a tug at my dantian. A strand that extended from my own core to Lu Jie’s right next to me. A bond that tied us together.
Sheldon turned towards me, his form still the small and familiar turtle. But there was a weight behind his words now. The moon spirit's words played in my mind. The heavier the book, the more worth the Qi gave to its content. The world was listening.
“You. Life. Is. There. But. Death? Incomplete. Even. Now.” Sheldon said, as the water shook around me. My eyes drifted towards Lu Jie, as I stared at the boy, looking wide eyed at the turtle as if in shock.
“Aware. Of. Each. Other. But. Incomplete. Regret. Not. Equals. Life. Dominates. Death. Lags. Behind. Must. Be. Equals.”
Before I could comprehend the broken stream of words and concepts, I felt water push me out. I shouted, surprised as I was thrown out and landed with a crash on the shore.
“Ouch, could’ve warned me,” I said, mostly out of habit as I felt no pain. I looked up to see Lu Jie nearby, sitting silently.
I stared at Lu Jie, as his eyes turned towards me and I felt something stir in my chest. Sheldon’s words began to play in my mind.
We were not equals. Me and him. Even though we represented two halves. I was the one in charge here. Of this body, and life. Of my Path. All this time, I’d thought of Lu Jie as someone else. As an unfortunate boy whose body and life I’d stolen. I’d avoided the thought, living without any guilt as I went about my life.
Even now, I still avoided the truth of what I really was. Something I didn’t fully understand even now, and likely never would if Sheldon didn’t push me to do this. I knew I was a coward at heart.
But perhaps it was time to change that.
I took a deep breath, evaporating the water off of me as I stood straight and turned to look at Lu Jie. I’d avoided this long enough.
“We need to talk,” I said, and Lu Jie turned to look at me, returning a silent nod. A bitter smile covered his face as Lu Jie closed his eyes and I felt a strange emotion overcome me.
“Yeah, we do.”